


Pyromaniacs

by awest000000



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fire, Fluff, M/M, Pyromania
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-20
Updated: 2013-07-20
Packaged: 2017-12-20 20:44:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awest000000/pseuds/awest000000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve walked towards the fire and stared at it, mesmerized. He grabbed a piece of paper off the floor (Tony totally did NOT check out his ass) and put the tip of it into the fire that was still raging in the lab. It caught and Steve… played with it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pyromaniacs

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt by promptsifyouwantem on Tumblr:
> 
> "Steve hears explosions coming from the lab. When he comes down, Tony expects a lecture on lab safety. As it turns out, Steve is a bit of a pyromaniac.
> 
> And then they bond over fire."

Steve was sitting on the couch, sketching the characters from the movie he had playing. It was about a fish that gets lost and his dad has to go find him. “Jarvis, what is this movie called again?”

Before Jarvis could respond, there was a huge, loud explosion that shook the whole tower. Steve knew immediately it was Tony, since everyone else was gone. Clint and Natasha were on a mission, but were bound to return soon. Bruce was at a conference. Thor was on Asgard.

Steve jumped off the couch and ran down the steps to Tony’s lab. There was a huge fire in the middle of the room. It was obviously a robot. He heard Tony yelling, “Get the fire out! Jarvis! Hurry, before Steve comes down here! You know he’s going to yell at me!”

Steve stepped through the broken glass door that must have broke during the explosion. “Tony? What _happened_?”

Tony whirled around and started stammering, “What? Oh, uh… This? This is nothing! Just go back upstairs and don’t you worry your pretty little head!”

Steve walked towards the fire and stared at it, mesmerized. He grabbed a piece of paper off the floor (Tony totally did NOT check out his ass) and put the tip of it into the fire that was still raging in the lab. It caught and Steve… played with it?

As Steve waved it around, Tony asked, “Steve. What are you doing? Aren’t you going to lecture me on lab safety?”

Steve turned to him, with the paper nearly to his fingertips, and said, “I suppose I could if you want me to.” He shrugged. “Figure I would get my fire fix in first.”

“Okay, Steve, I get it. Be more careful and don’t make too many ex—.” Tony cut himself off. “What did you just say?”

“Get my fire fix? I don’t know.” The fire was touching Steve’s fingers so Tony knocked it out of his hand.

“Are you trying to catch yourself on fire?” Tony asked, utterly bewildered.

“No. I just figured I could have some fun.” He shrugged again before picking up a metal rod, ripping off his long sleeve, and wrapped it around the pole. He assessed it and stuck it in the fire. A mischievous smile took over.

“What have you done with Steve? I know he would never be this enthusiastic over… fire,” Tony commented.

“I had to go to therapy at SHIELD. They asked me what I did for fun before I crashed, and I said I loved fire. I loved, well still do love, the warmth, the color, and… burning things. I’ve always loved it, especially when I was sick. When our electricity went out because we couldn’t pay the bill, mom would light candles and I would put paper in them and see what I would do. Sometimes me and Bucky would go to bonfires and I would just watch things burn.”

Tony looked at him and said, “I never would have thought that Captain America, the Star Spangled Man with a Plan, would love fire. I also thought you were a supporter of Smokey the Bear. You know, the ‘Only YOU can stop wildfires.’”

Steve smiled and said, “Yeah that’s what SHIELD thought, too. I suppose that’s why they said I have uh.., pyro… pyro something. Pyromania! That’s it. They wouldn’t let me near matches or lighters for a long time. I don’t guess they realize I can start a fire with just about anything.”

“You can? I thought you were a boy scout but I didn’t know you actually were.”

“Oh, I’m not. But I was in the war, and sometimes we didn’t have matches and lighters weren’t exactly common. So on cold nights without them, we had to make do without them.”

Tony went and pulled up two chairs for him and Steve. They sat down to watch the fire.

Very quietly, Steve said, “I wish I didn’t have it, though. SHIELD treated me almost as a threat. I didn’t realize loving fire was a bad thing in this century.”

Tony looked astounded. “Who told you having pyromania was a bad thing?”

“No one did. I just assumed because of how they treated me, it wasn’t something to be proud of.” Steve sounded… ashamed of himself.

“No, Steve. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Hell, _I’m_ a pyromaniac! I’m pretty sure Clint is and I _know_ Thor is, what with his lightning fetish.”

“You have pyromania? Since when?”

“I think it started when I was around two. I may have been younger than that. There was a picture of my cousin on the dining room table. I hated that cousin. My mom was going to get a frame for it. I took it and went to the kitchen, where our butler Jarvis was. The cook had something on the stove and we had a gas stove, so there was a flame. I caught the corner on fire and I was about to throw it in the trash can, when Jarvis caught it and put it out. Let’s just say, it didn’t go well for anyone.” Tony chuckled at the memory. “What about you? When did you develop pyromania?”

“Well like I said, I was always sick, and fire was just something I was around. But when I was little, when we went to bonfires, a little kid would get a stick and put dead leaves on the end. They would catch the leaves on fire and parade around with all the other kids behind him. We called it _train_. The person with the stick was the conductor, because he had smoke coming from the fire. When the fire ran out, you passed it to the next kid in line.” Steve smiled thinking about it.

Tony and Steve watched the fire slowly die down. It hadn’t spread because nothing down there could really catch fire. Steve brought his hand over and thread his fingers through Tony’s. Tony looked over at him and saw a small smile on Steve’s lips. Tony smiled and leaned his head on Steve’s shoulder.

They fell asleep and woke up to Clint singing, “Steve and Tony, sittin’ in the tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

 

Tony threw a wrench at him.

**Author's Note:**

> The part about Tony catching a picture on fire and trying to throw it away is actually based on a true story. My brother did that when he was two.
> 
> The part where Steve talks about the 'train' is also based on a true story. My brothers and I used to do that when we were younger.
> 
> P.S. I will accept prompts! Just nothing about TOO MUCH sex or violence! (I'm not very good at writing those!)


End file.
